


I Enjoy Many Things but You Are What Inspires

by AdmiralStarNight



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Caustic is Wattson's new dad, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mentioned Lifeline | Ajay Che, Spoilers, Video Game Mechanics, You can't convince me otherwise, mentioned crypto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24412834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdmiralStarNight/pseuds/AdmiralStarNight
Summary: Caustic is not an emotional man. He is a man of science. He observes all that goes on around him, he catalogs what interests him and discards the rest.Wattson is a bright spark of a girl, with a brilliant mind and amazing personality. She should of been a footnote in Caustic's mind.So why did he feel this way?(Hella spoilers for the recent Apex quest line. Go play it first I beg of you.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	I Enjoy Many Things but You Are What Inspires

**Author's Note:**

> Alexander you bastard you're going soft.

The past was the past.

Whatever he had done before he became Caustic was far and distant. At least that is what it should of been before that bitch had come along.

Strutting into the Apex games in high heels and clothing so tight he was almost impressed that they didn't tear during battle. Loba had been an interest to keep an eye on, a person with abilities he might be able to utilize for his direct benefit, until that night. She knew about his past and that was simply unacceptable. He did not like having to kowtow to her, but did not mind it too much if it would keep her mouth shut.

The first piece was an easy find, Natalie had done that on her own because she had been so excited to get her hands on this technology that he hadn't been able to talk her out of it. She'd done just fine that time around, coming back to base a little battered, but excited and studying the piece with bright shining eyes while the drone man frowned at it and had to tug it out of Natalie's hands in order to even get a glimpse of it.

It was the next one that put her here, in this bed, injured and unconscious. 

He'd been the one to go in support, hearing of the difficulties and numbers of prowlers that wandered the area. His gas would be perfect to slow the annoying creatures if they got too close.

Then he had seen it through the scope of his triple take. A prowler bursting through the electric fence and out of site and he had felt a knot settle in his stomach as the charge rifle beams suddenly ceased. He'd ran as fast as he could, ignoring his protesting lungs and slaughtering a pile of prowlers as he ran. He ignored the fence. He wasn't supposed to be here honestly, so the fence had not been set to recognize that he was friendly. He stumbled through it, trowing down a gas canister near the door , seeing Natalie lying there on the ground, a puddle of blood surrounding her made his heart skip a beat. The brilliant girl who was a scientist at heart, controlled electricity like water, was so... pure and helpful to everyone she met, even the simulacrum, down and bleeding. 

He had been too slow and the sight of her body vanishing into a deathbox made him mad. Madder than he ever thought he would get again. He took what he could and moved on with the mission, the haze in his vision not just caused by his own Nox Gas, but by rage. 

He managed to retrieve the piece and hop on the drop ship, glaring down at it but not really seeing it. 

Alexander had practically thrown the piece at Crypto when the shuttle landed and stalked to the medical bay where Ajay worried over the girl, hooking up IVs and applying bandages. At one point she had given him a pointed look but he stared back at her and did not move, only made sure to give her the room she needed and nothing more. This mission had been off the clocks, not in the games, so the injuries were real, and not so easily gotten rid of. As Ajay worked, Wraith and Octane had returned, Mirage had arrived at some point but he didn't care to take note of it as he stood next to Natalie, looking down at her, unhooking his gas mask listening only vaguely to the people around him.

"She’ll make a full recovery. What matters now is finding the other half of the Gemini--" Loba's voice cuts through his thoughts like a knife.

His hand was around her throat and slamming her into the wall before even he fully knew what he was doing. How dare she. How DARE she focus on her little technotoy when Natalie risked her life, almost actually dying, for her little mission. He had no family, he had no friends, he HAD none of that stuff. 

Unlike before, he has those now. He thought it didn't matter that he was just the man named Caustic, playing so he could experiment on the enemy squads, that he was alone in life. 

But Natalie had found him. Her spark making the people around her her family, not just a bunch of glory hunting killers. And now she was almost dead.

"Should Ms. Paquette’s condition worsen, you will live out your days so unrecognizable, you'll beg me for death." He growled before dropping her and stalking out, slamming the door behind him hard enough he was sure he heard it crack.  
___________________________________________________________________________________

Alexander had come back later, having taken some hours to calm down, shower, groom and general avoid people so he didn't try and murder them all. The room was kept dark and only the soft sounds of medical equipment at work disturbed the silence.

He sat down heavily beside the bed, just looking at her. 

Little Natalie. Wattson. The Eye of the Storm. She looked so small like this, stripped of her gear and laying here without even the tiniest of movements to betray her being awake. He was a scientist, he knew that it would take time for the human body to recover, for the drugs that would heal her faster to work. But he wished her eyes would open and small smile crack that face and a lame, yet appropriate electrical pun would emerge from a hoarse-voiced, brilliant girl who got in over her head.

He sat there for the longest time, just observing, the way her chest rose and fell beneath the blanket as she breathed, the way the medical equipment showed that she was stable, the old Lichtenberg scar on hr face and a tiny band-aid on her face that was all that was currently shown of the damage done during the mission. The worst was under the protective cover of the blankets.

Finally, when his eyes were beginning to close and head droop he decided it was time to leave. Being sleep deprived would do him no good in the coming days. He stood and hovered near the bed for a moment, before he leaned down and gave Natalie an oh-so-light kiss on the forehead. "Get well soon Little Scientist." He said softly. 

As he straightened he took a step back in surprise, a hand going automatically for a gun he didn't have on him. Then he relaxed, staring hard at Renee who stood on the other side of the bed, kunai in hand but non-threatening in posture.

"Go to bed." She said, looking down at Natalie. "I will keep watch through the night, if something changes, you will be informed." 

Alexander nodded. "Thank you Ms. Blasey." 

Renee looked up at him. "If you must call me anything, call me Wraith. Or Renee. Depending on where we are." She seemed uncomfortable with her own request but met Alexander's gaze levelly.

"Then thank you Renee..." He mulled over the name, unused to first name basis after so long of being alone with nothing but himself, his lab and recently Natalie. He almost liked it. "I pray she recovers fast."

"So do I. Now go." She said, pointing to the door with her kunai. 

Alexander left. Natalie would be well soon. He would be there when she woke, so would Renee. 

Her family would be there when she awoke.


End file.
